Poland and Orientalism

Poland, like Palestine, has been the victim of Orientalism.

the dispossession of the Palestinian people by foreign powers

because Poland, like Palestine, has been the victim of Orientalism. Orientalism is a Western mode of thinking that projects a wild and irrational essence onto Eastern peoples and thus justifies Western political dominance over them. In the case of Poland this Orientalism was historically perpetrated primarily by Germans. (Russians, for obvious reasons, couldn’t get away with such nonsense and instead justified their dominance over Eastern Poland by what may be termed “Occidentalism”). Although Poland is now independent we on this forum still see Orientalism quite often in the content of posters from the West who portray Poles as a backwards folk who should be grateful for the enlightenment they, as English teachers or other professionals, provide.

Never in my life have I come across oreintalism used in the context of Poland.

Read Orientalism and then study the literature recounting German justifications for their rule over Western Poland

Edward Said, the author of the 1978 landmark tome Orientalism, wrote his doctoral thesis on Joseph Conrad (Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski). Said's affinity for Conrad is understandable when one compares the two authors life histories. Conrad was the scion of a noble Polish family who left his home in Berdyczów because of Russian occupation. Said was the scion of a noble Jerusalemite family forced to leave their home in Palestine by Zionist occupation. Both men found themselves exiles in the English speaking world and both men mastered English to become preeminent in their fields of endeavor, Conrad in literature and Said in literary criticism and cultural studies. Analysis of a Polish writer’s work was a good place to start for the man who would later write Orientalism because Poland, like Palestine, has been the victim of Orientalism. Orientalism is a Western mode of thinking that projects a wild and irrational essence onto Eastern peoples and thus justifies Western political dominance over them. In the case of Poland this Orientalism was historically perpetrated primarily by Germans. (Russians, for obvious reasons, couldn’t get away with such nonsense and instead justified their dominance over Eastern Poland by what may be termed “Occidentalism”). Although Poland is now independent we on this forum still see Orientalism quite often in the content of posters from the West who portray Poles as a backwards folk who should be grateful for the enlightenment they, as English teachers or other professionals, provide. Since today, May 15th, is the day the world remembers the dispossession of the Palestinian people by foreign powers let us also remember Poland’s struggle against partition and vow to oppose those who continue to Orientalize Palestinians, Poles, or any other people.

Edward Said, the author of the 1978 landmark tome Orientalism,

The Germans came across a country that in many respects was more politically advanced than themselves, and used the argument post facto.

The Germans came across a country that in many respects was more politically advanced than themselves

Ummm...hardly possible. I doubt that some conqueror ever sees the conquered as advanced in any form. They lost after all...Especially the last partition as the home grown rascals more or less gave the country away. I wouldn't call that political advanced..

Do you have a link?

I doubt Germans ever felt that Poland was more advanced...

You mean like a kind of anti-semitism hidden in a posting ?

Why is it that every time someone criticizes Israel or Jews they are anti semetic?

and then study the literature recounting German justifications for their rule over Western Poland

For the same reason people who criticize Poles are called Anti Polonia.

Edward Said, the author of the 1978 landmark tome Orientalism, wrote his doctoral thesis on Joseph Conrad (Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski). Said's affinity for Conrad is understandable when one compares the two authors life histories. Conrad was the scion of a noble Polish family who left his home in Berdyczów because of Russian occupation. Said was the scion of a noble Jerusalemite family forced to leave their home in Palestine by Zionist occupation. Both men found themselves exiles in the English speaking world and both men mastered English to become preeminent in their fields of endeavor, Conrad in literature and Said in literary criticism and cultural studies. Analysis of a Polish writer’s work was a good place to start for the man who would later write Orientalism because Poland, like Palestine, has been the victim of Orientalism. Orientalism is a Western mode of thinking that projects a wild and irrational essence onto Eastern peoples and thus justifies Western political dominance over them. In the case of Poland this Orientalism was historically perpetrated primarily by Germans. (Russians, for obvious reasons, couldn’t get away with such nonsense and instead justified their dominance over Eastern Poland by what may be termed “Occidentalism”). Although Poland is now independent we on this forum still see Orientalism quite often in the content of posters from the West who portray Poles as a backwards folk who should be grateful for the enlightenment they, as English teachers or other professionals, provide. Since today, May 15th, is the day the world remembers the dispossession of the Palestinian people by foreign powers let us also remember Poland’s struggle against partition and vow to oppose those who continue to Orientalize Palestinians, Poles, or any other people.

This post is a poor analogy. Historically Poland has always looked West not East. Poland may well be the Easternmost Western European Country. Poland Romanticized it's alphabet (it used to be Cyrillic, like the Russians), It embraced the Roman Church. The early Kings of Poland wanted Poland to be West, not East.

Well far be it for me to try to explain German arrogance and convenient amnesia, but I doubt that if the Germans have ever heard of the 3 May Constitution.

Poland had almost no civic middle class, the base of modern societies.

In the eyes of the Germans Poland was an underdeveloped agrarian country

Who cared about that? In the eyes of the Germans Poland was an underdeveloped agrarian country with a small, decadent upper class whose self-interest was directed against the greater good of the country. Poland had almost no civic middle class, the base of modern societies. Before the Polish partitions Poland had 2 or 3 universities, Germany + Austria more than 40. The social divide was immense.

base of modern societies.

Palivec

since it was only thanks to the patronage of the Polish king that Prussia was able to turn protestant.

On on the topic of modern societies and identification with the national interest, it is a fact that the Polish nobility was one of the first to identify with the national interest

You are an ignorant moron !

Hmmm...what about Luther??? And aren't Poles catholic???

It was before Poles were catholic...

Hmmm...what about Luther??? Don't laugh but he is widely attributed with Protestantism in Germany, not Poland ;)
And aren't Poles catholic???

And aren't Poles catholic???